A Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate is restructuring his campaign after complaints alleged he directed funds to family members, including his wife.
Independent candidate Dan Osborn is reportedly making changes following a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which claims he improperly steered campaign funds for personal use through relatives and affiliated entities.
While federal election law does not prohibit paying family members, it requires that services be legitimate campaign work and compensated at fair-market value. Last month, conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust filed a complaint alleging Osborn’s campaign and two political action committees engaged in an illegal “scheme” to pay several of his relatives.
Osborn’s wife was a central figure in the complaint, reportedly receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars through direct campaign payments and through two consulting firms she worked for or partly owned, according to the filing.
However, Osborn and his wife told the Omaha-World Herald that she will step away from those consulting roles and instead join his campaign as a full-time operations manager.
“I am not going to let Pete and his cronies dictate who runs my campaign,” Osborn said. “No one works harder than my wife. Along with running our household and raising our kids, she has been instrumental in running my campaign.”
Campaign spokesperson John Dolan dismissed the concerns, calling them “a joke.”
“Why is a billionaire like Pete Ricketts so afraid of a mechanic?” Dolan said, referring to the incumbent Republican senator. “Ricketts and his allies are doing what they always do: throwing mud to distract voters from the fact that they’re getting rich while bankrupting the country.”
Osborn has maintained that all payments to his wife were appropriate and aligned with fair-market rates. Records show she received compensation both directly from the campaign and through consulting firms, including Independent Campaigns LLC—where she held a one-third stake—and Dark Forest LLC.
Shortly after Independent Campaigns was established, Osborn’s Working Class Heroes Fund made an initial $50,000 payment to the firm. According to the complaint, the firm has since received nearly $200,000 from Osborn’s campaign and affiliated political action committees.
Overall, the complaint alleges Osborn’s wife received close to $300,000 for services such as strategy consulting and reimbursements.
The complaint also raises concerns about payments to other family members, including two sisters-in-law, a brother-in-law, and his daughter. His daughter reportedly received $4,200 from a previous campaign for “assistant services” during a period when the campaign was inactive.
In response to the scrutiny, Osborn’s wife is expected to divest her stake in Independent Campaigns and will earn a monthly salary of $8,000 in her new campaign role—slightly less than her previous combined income, according to reports.
“Dan Osborn only restructured how he pays his wife after we filed a complaint,” said Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust. “However, questions still remain… Osborn may have changed tactics, but he isn’t off the hook.”
Osborn, who is running as an Independent, is challenging Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts after previously losing a 2024 race against Sen. Deb Fischer.
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